Wintertime minimum temperatures in the U.S. have risen so much in recent decades that the United States Department of Agriculture decided last week to update their Plant Hardiness Zone Map for gardeners for the first time since 1990. The Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones. Compared to the 1990 version, zone boundaries in the new 2012 edition of the map have generally shifted one 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zone warmer than the previous map throughout much of the United States. This is mostly a result of using temperature data from a longer and more recent time period. The old 1990 map was based on temperature data from only a 13-year period of 1974-1986, while the new map uses data from the 30-year period 1976-2005.

Northwards, ho!While humans are generally not attuned enough to nature's rhythms to tell if the climate is changing, plants and animals know the climate is changing. Many species of animals, insects, and plants have shifted their ranges poleward and to higher elevations in recent decades because of global warming. The 2007 IPCC report stated that "numerous studies document a progressively earlier spring by about 2.3 to 5.2 days per decade in the last 30 years in response to climate warming. That report also documented over 400 species that have moved their ranges poleward or to higher elevations because of climate change. For example, conifer trees expanded northwards into former tundra areas at a rate of 12 km per year between 1982 - 2000 in portions of Canada (Fillol and Royer, 2003.) Holly plants moved northwards by several hundred kilometers in recent decades into coastal Norway, Northeast Germany, Denmark, and coastal Sweden in response to warming temperatures (Walther et al., 2005.) As the climate continues to warm, plant and animal species previously unknown in many regions will appear, and will disappear from places they used to inhabit.

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — Rescuers have plucked 50 survivors from the sea off Papua New Guinea’s east coast after a ferry sank Thursday with as many as 350 people on board, officials said.

An airplane from Australia, three helicopters and six ships were scouring the search area after the MV Rabaul Queen went down while traveling from Kimbe on the island of New Britain to coastal town of Lae on the main island, Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard called the incident a “major tragedy” and said her country was providing assistance to its near neighbor.

“Given the likely very high loss of life here, I think when this news comes to the attention of Australians around the country they will be thinking about the people of PNG as they respond to this tragedy,” she added.

The Australian maritime agency initially detected the ferry’s distress beacon and alerted the PNG Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, which is coordinating the rescue effort. The Australian statement said “approximately 50 people have been rescued so far.”

It said 350 people were believed to be on board, but Papua New Guinea’s National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) rescue co-ordinator Captain Nurur Rahman said the true figure was likely lower.

“I cannot confirm or deny the 350 missing number. It is hearsay,” Rahman said. “I have not seen the manifest as yet, but it is likely around 300.”

Rahman said he was being fed information from an NMSA agent on board one of the ships.

“The dynamics of this thing are changing all the time, minute by minute,” he said.

Ship operator Star Ships could not be immediately contacted for comment.

Quoting BaltimoreBrian:After what happened south of Gainesville are they issuing more strongly worded smoke advisories?

I didn't understand how it took them two days to find one of the bodies in a truck in that wreck south of Gainesville.

This is typical some years for this area. If it wasn't prescribed & without rain soon this place is going up. I see Fellsmere got their prescribed burn. I hope they think to to burn down around Palm Bay & Mims soon too. ECFL is close to suffering at the whims of too much perfect weather.

Yesterday when they started those, wind may have kicked up more than expected. The KSC one had a Mesocyclone signature on radar. It got real thick out there this morning, air quality & CO was an issue too Tomorrow even more fog is expected to mix in.. Here's road closures..

MRSA abbreviation for(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Microbiology) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a bacterium that enters the skin through open wounds to cause septicaemia and is extremely resistant to most antibiotics. It has been responsible for outbreaks of untreatable infections among patients in hospitals.

Pestilence watch: deadly form of MRSA spreads from U.S. to U.K.

Posted on February 2, 2012February 2, 2012 – LONDON – The number of potentially deadly strains of MRSA that are easily passed between healthy people, outside hospitals is increasing in the UK, experts said today. They include a flesh-eating form of pneumonia, USA300, which has spread across the US and is now being seen in the UK. Dr. Ruth Massey, from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Bath, said extra vigilance was required around PVL-positive community acquired MRSA strains. She drew attention to USA300, a deadly strain of the superbug which passes easily through skin-to-skin contact. It is resistant to treatment by several front-line antibiotics and can cause large boils on the skin. In severe cases, USA300 can lead to fatal blood poisoning or a form of pneumonia that can eat away at lung tissue. Dr. Massey said there were 1,000 cases of PVL-positive community acquired MRSA in England in the last year, of which 200 were USA300 strains. ‘These community-acquired strains seem to be good at affecting healthy people – they seem to be much better than the hospital ones at causing disease. ‘They don’t rely on healthcare workers moving them around, which the hospital ones seem to.’ Dr. Massey said USA300 is ‘a really big issue in the US and it’s starting to emerge here. ‘But hopefully because we are aware of it and are working to understand it, it won’t become as big of a problem (in the UK).’ –Daily Mail

Get out your calendar and make a big exclamation point on May 20. That’s when an annular solar eclipse will turn the sun into a glowing ring of fire.

This is the first solar eclipse visible from the United States in about 18 years, according to NASA. We’ve had our share of lunar eclipses in recent years, but solar eclipses happen when the moon passes in front of the sun, obscuring it from view.

The “ring of fire” effect will be visible as far north as Medford, Oregon and as far south as Lubbock, Texas. Throughout the zone –called the “path of annularity” – sky watchers will see the sun transformed into a a bright doughnut-like object.

The rest of the country west of the Mississippi (including Seattle) will witness a partial eclipse. That’s when the sun appears to be crescent-shaped as the moon passes by off-center.

NASA wants to remind you that this is not a total eclipse — when the moon entirely obscures the sun from view. The next total eclipse visible from the US happens in 2017. (Again, mark your calendar.)

I-95 will probity close sometime tonight through early morning maybe 50 to 405, in North Brevard County. This is due to prescribed burns at KSC & around Tituville. KSC industrial area workers are to stay away til at least 10am.

Patrick...You and Press are some of my faves and I appreciate your wumails now and again. Based upon your endorsement, I will add TheoJesse as well. I had to jump in over a weather hazard insurance discussion and so I have surfaced. To you and Press both-whassup with the latest avatars? Press, go back to the "Dawg Thing!"

To Jesse, AtHome and Percy, I too was on a State plan when hurricane Charley hit me...the claim fight was horrendous at best!

Quoting opsman27N82W:

Patrick...You and Press are some of my faves and I appreciate your wumails now and again. Based upon your endorsement, I will add TheoJesse as well. I had to jump in over a weather hazard insurance discussion and so I have surfaced. To you and Press both-whassup with the latest avatars? Press, go back to the "Dawg Thing!"

To Jesse, AtHome and Percy, I too was on a State plan when hurricane Charley hit me...the claim fight was horrendous at best!

Dont you have anything else to do then continue to talk about me? Can you not accept the fact that i am NOT done with school and do NOT know every single figure of speech, and word? No i am not admitting i dont know what a double standard is. i do. Period.

Do you see me always talk about you? I don't care how you spell, I do resent that you continue to complain about off-topic posts but yet you're one who does it. It's called being a hypocrite. There's nothing people hate more than hypocrites.

Fusion is easy. Sustainable fusion that puts out more energy than it takes in is hard. It's kind of difficult to contain something several million degrees K that dissolves anything it touches. :)

Nuclear Physics is another science I like. The universe is brimming with it..........Here is a piece about fusion......For sustained, controlled fusion reactions, a fission bomb obviously cannot be used to trigger the reaction. The difficulties of controlled fusion center on the containment of the nuclear fuel at the extremely high temperatures necessary for fusion for a time long enough to allow the reaction to take place. For deuterium-tritium fusion, this time is about 0.1 sec. At such temperatures the fuel is no longer in one of the ordinary states of matter but is instead a plasma, consisting of a mixture of electrons and charged atoms. Obviously, no solid container could hold such a hot mixture; therefore, containment attempts have been based on the electrical and magnetic properties of a plasma, using magnetic fields to form a "magnetic bottle." In 1994 U.S. researchers achieved a fusion reaction that lasted about a second and generated 10.7 million watts, using deuterium and tritium in a magnetically confined plasma. The use of tritium lowers the temperature required and increases the rate of the reaction, but it also increases the release of radioactive neutrons. Another method has used laser beams aimed at tiny pellets of fusion fuel.

If practical controlled fusion is achieved, it could have great advantages over fission as a source of energy. Deuterium is relatively easy to obtain, since it constitutes a small percentage of the hydrogen in water and can be separated by electrolysis, in contrast to the complex and expensive methods required to extract uranium-235 from its sources. In 2007 China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States formally established the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Organization to build an experimental fusion reactor at Cadarache in S France that would use the "magnetic bottle" approach. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility, based in Livermore, Calif., and dedicated in 2009, is exploring the use of high-energy lasers focused on hydrogen fuel to achieve nuclear fusion.

As a Floridian, I concur with your *sigh*...all of the major 'insurers' have done the same down leaving us with unknowns that you really have to question what they are covering and what they do not. Then you sweat out an event wondering if you will have a claim honored. *heavy sigh*

You're screwed without insurance, and you might be screwed with insurance.

A broad trough of low pressure lies over inland NewSouth Wales, while a high south of the Bight extends a ridge across the southern Tasman Sea. This pattern, with assistance from an upper-level system over the state's west, is generating widespread rain across many central and eastern districts. A second trough lies of the northern coast, and is expected to bringing increased rainfall to central parts of the coast as it moves southwards later today and early Friday

Rain which may lead to flash flooding is forecast for the Metropolitan, Illawarra, Central Tablelands, Central West Slopes & Plains, Hunter and North West Slopes & Plains forecast districts, in addition to the eastern parts of the Upper Western, and southern parts of the Northern Tablelands and Mid North Coast forecast districts.

Quoting BahaHurican: I doubt Xyrus is Nea, though. And isn't it slandel or liber or some such if you don't have proof but publically malign someone's reputation? Either way, 1) innocent until proven guilty, and 2) I can't imagine needing to be on this blog so much that you have to make 2 of yourself... I barely have time to be one of me...[lol]

BTW, did u guys get rain with that frontal passage? It rained for almost an hour, at times heavily, as it went through this morning. Felt kinda weird for Feb 1.

Am I really so bad that calling someone me is maligning them? :D

No, I am not Nea. I think that would be obvious to anyone; our writing styles are different. Regardless, just because a group internet people happen to agree on topics of discussion doesn't imply they are all just sockpuppets. After all, I don't think anyone is calling Pensacola a sockpuppet of SPL, or vice-versa, even though they share some similar views.

EVACUATIONS are underway in northern NSW as rising floodwaters threaten to cut off towns. Thousands of residents have been told to leave.

Helicopters are descending on the region to airlift hundreds to safety.

About 1600 residents in Moree and 80 people in nearby Biniguy have been ordered to leave their homes immediately as the Mehi and Gwydir rivers continue to rise to levels not seen since the 1970.

Meanwhile a major operation is underway at Pallamallawa, with helicopters airlifting 600 trapped residents to safety.

"Airlifting them out is the only option we have,'' NSW SES Deputy Commissioner of Operations Steven Pearce told AAP on Thursday.

"It's an operation that will take all day, but we are very confident we will get everyone to safety."

The SES said residents who ignored the evacuation order could be risking their lives.

Evacuating

Moree - 1600 people being evacuated to south Moree as the town prepares to be cut in half by 3pm (AEDT) on Thursday. Biniguy - 80 people being evacuated. Pallamallawa - 600 people being airlifted to safety.

Isolated

Wee-Waa - 2500 residents have been cut off by rising floodwaters.

On standby to evacuate

Croki and Manning Point - About 260 residents are likely to be evacuated later on Thursday, as the Manning River continues to rise.Evacuation warnings are also in place for 60 properties on the Wingham Peninsula, 40 properties in Taree and 19 properties in Barraba.

The SES said the Mehi River at Moree was expected to exceed 9.5 metres about 3pm (AEDT) on Thursday and peak around 10.3 metres by 9am on Friday morning.

Residents are being advised to evacuate to south Moree, where evacuation centres have been set up at the town hall and the PCYC.

The SES has received 820 requests for assistance in recent days, with nine flood rescues carried out overnight.

Multiple flood rescues of people trapped in their homes and cars were being carried out on Thursday.

Meanwhile, up to 260 residents at Croki and Manning Point have been warned to prepare to evacuate as the Manning River continues to rise.

That evacuation order was likely to be put out later on Thursday, Dep Comm Pearce said.

The region has been hammered with 250mm of rain overnight, and the town of Wee Waa is completely isolated.

About 2500 residents there will be monitored through regular food and supply drops, Dep Comm Pearce said.

Evacuation warnings are in place for 60 properties on the Wingham Peninsula, 40 properties in Taree and 19 properties in Barraba.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said the river at Wingham reached 8.9 metres early on Thursday morning.

In Taree the SES is setting up evacuation centres at Taree PCYC and Taree High School.

In Barraba, the Manilla River reached 5.7 metres on Thursday morning.

Bellingen, which was heavily flooded last week, is once again cut in two after the Bellinger River spilled over its banks.

Thirteen flood warnings remain in place for river systems across NSW, with rain expected to spread to the Hunter region, the Illawarra and metropolitan Sydney later on Thursday.

"This is a campaign of flood events that are likely to stay around for some time," Det Comm Pearce said.

Roads closed

Newell Highway closed between Narrabri and the Queensland Border

Carnarvon Highway closed between Moree and Mungindi

Gwydir Highway closed between Warialda and Collarenebri

Oxley Highway closed between Gunnedah and Tamworth

Thunderbolts Way closed between Uralla and Bundarra

Waterfall Way alternating traffic between Dorrigo and Bellingen due to road surface damage; caution should be taken with water over the road just past Bellingen

Quoting TheoJesse:Based on you location you live in Fl.My deductible was about the same. I had to replace the roof on my house when I bought it. Price about $1900.I physically can do the job, just hope it doesn't do more damage.Jesse

My insurance company made me replace the roof prior to hurricane Charley due to the house being older...glad they did because I was one of the few in the neighborhood that didn't lose a roof in the storm.

Quoting BaltimoreBrian:No but they are cold tolerant! People grow them in Alaska, down in the panhandle near Annette as novelites. I see they grow in Scotland too. Someone in Bergen Norway should try them.

I have seen them on Long Island, NY. I posted pictures of them a few months back. There is another variety that grows on the end of Long Island, but I cannot remember the name. The east end of Long Island has a mild climate considering how far North it is.

%u2026...MAJOR HURRICANE CHUCK NORRIS IS THE MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE EVER TO FORM IN ANY BASIN..... MAX SUSTAINED WINDS ARE AT 500MPH....GUSTING TO 550MPH. PRESSURE HAS DROPPED TO 652MB..... ANYONE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM PREPARE TO BE ROUNDHOUSE KICKED BY THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE THING ON THE PLANET EVER...CHUCK NORRIS...........

....DVORAK INTENSITY ESTIMATES FROM BOTH AGENCIES REMAIN AT495 MPH..BUT AMSU INTENSITY ESTIMATES FROM THE UNIVERSITY OFWISCONSIN CIMSS ARE A LITTLE HIGHER. THE INTENSITY IS SET AT 500 MPHFOR THIS ADVISORY. NOTHING CAN STOP THIS INCREDIBLE STORM...SO CONTINUED INTENSIFICATION IS FORECAST.......... NOTHING ANYWHERE NEAR CHUCK NORRIS CAN CAUSE AN INCREASE IN SHEAR.......AND AGAIN, NOTHING INHIBITSINTENSIFICATION OF THIS MOSTER STORM............NOTHING CAN STOP CHUCK NORRIS EXCEPT ANOTHER CHUCK NORRIS......... ALL OF THEGLOBAL COMPUTER FORECASTING MODELS...SUCH AS THE GFS AND NAM...HAVE REFUSED TO WORK BECAUSE MAJOR HURRICANE CHUCK NORRIS DEFIES ALL MODEL GUIDANCE............THE OFFICIAL INTENSITY FORECAST IS WHATEVER CHUCK NORRIS WANTS AND WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.....

THE STORM CONTINUES TO MOVE WHEREVER HE WANTS......... THE TRACK FORECAST AND REASONING AREESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED. MAJOR HURRICANE CHUCK NORRIS WILL MOVE SOMEWHERE ....AND THEN HEAD TOWARDS YOU IF YOU WANT HIM TO GO OUT TO SEA AND AWAY FROM YOU.......... THIS STORM WILL MAKE LANDFALL SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ANTARCTICA AND THE NORTH POLE.......WE JUST DON'T KNOW WHERE.........

......YOU CANNOT GET OUT OF THE PATH OF THIS STORM AS THERE IS NO RUNNING FROM CHUCK NORRIS...HE WILL FIND YOU......OUR BEST ADVICE IS TO STAY INSIDE....AND DRINK MOUNTAIN DEW......

Chuck is not so bad.. In fact, he was a true world champion...On November 24, 1968, he avenged his defeat to Delgado and by doing so won the Professional Middleweight Karate champion title, which he held for six consecutive years.[8] In 1969, he won Karate's triple crown for the most tournament wins of the year, and the Fighter of the Year award by Black Belt Magazine. Chuck Norris retired with a karate record of 183–10–2.

It is occasionally cited that Norris made history in 1997 when he was the first Westerner in the documented history of Tae Kwon Do to be given the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master.[12] However, Norris appears to have been misled about this as there were at least two other U.S. Black Belts (Charles 'Chuck' Sereff and Edward Sell[13][14]) awarded TKD 8th Dan several years prior. On July 1, 2000, Norris was presented the Golden Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Karate Union Hall of Fame.

Deductable in FLA for wind damage is $5k. I never looked into a seperate policy for the coverage. Sometimes you have to take your own risk. Our risk against the insurance company's after a major weather event, it's a hard thing to determine.

Based on you location you live in Fl.My deductible was about the same. I had to replace the roof on my house when I bought it. Price about $1900.I physically can do the job, just hope it doesn't do more damage.Jesse

Quoting BaltimoreBrian:A friend of mine in St. Michaels, MD has some Chinese windmill palm trees growing at his place and they have done well. Some others in his neighborhood have started growing them too.

Quoting Patrap:Presslord and myself had the privilege and pleasure of meeting TheoJesse in the Summer of 09,in Destin.

He is a American Veteran and a friend.

Such friendships have been a gift to me thru this medium and site.

One's that I treasure most high in my Life

Patrick...You and Press are some of my faves and I appreciate your wumails now and again. Based upon your endorsement, I will add TheoJesse as well. I had to jump in over a weather hazard insurance discussion and so I have surfaced. To you and Press both-whassup with the latest avatars? Press, go back to the "Dawg Thing!"

To Jesse, AtHome and Percy, I too was on a State plan when hurricane Charley hit me...the claim fight was horrendous at best!

…...MAJOR HURRICANE CHUCK NORRIS IS THE MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE EVER TO FORM IN ANY BASIN..... MAX SUSTAINED WINDS ARE AT 500MPH....GUSTING TO 550MPH. PRESSURE HAS DROPPED TO 652MB..... ANYONE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM PREPARE TO BE ROUNDHOUSE KICKED BY THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE THING ON THE PLANET EVER...CHUCK NORRIS...........

....DVORAK INTENSITY ESTIMATES FROM BOTH AGENCIES REMAIN AT495 MPH..BUT AMSU INTENSITY ESTIMATES FROM THE UNIVERSITY OFWISCONSIN CIMSS ARE A LITTLE HIGHER. THE INTENSITY IS SET AT 500 MPHFOR THIS ADVISORY. NOTHING CAN STOP THIS INCREDIBLE STORM...SO CONTINUED INTENSIFICATION IS FORECAST.......... NOTHING ANYWHERE NEAR CHUCK NORRIS CAN CAUSE AN INCREASE IN SHEAR.......AND AGAIN, NOTHING INHIBITSINTENSIFICATION OF THIS MOSTER STORM............NOTHING CAN STOP CHUCK NORRIS EXCEPT ANOTHER CHUCK NORRIS......... ALL OF THEGLOBAL COMPUTER FORECASTING MODELS...SUCH AS THE GFS AND NAM...HAVE REFUSED TO WORK BECAUSE MAJOR HURRICANE CHUCK NORRIS DEFIES ALL MODEL GUIDANCE............THE OFFICIAL INTENSITY FORECAST IS WHATEVER CHUCK NORRIS WANTS AND WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.....

THE STORM CONTINUES TO MOVE WHEREVER HE WANTS......... THE TRACK FORECAST AND REASONING AREESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED. MAJOR HURRICANE CHUCK NORRIS WILL MOVE SOMEWHERE ....AND THEN HEAD TOWARDS YOU IF YOU WANT HIM TO GO OUT TO SEA AND AWAY FROM YOU.......... THIS STORM WILL MAKE LANDFALL SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ANTARCTICA AND THE NORTH POLE.......WE JUST DON'T KNOW WHERE.........

......YOU CANNOT GET OUT OF THE PATH OF THIS STORM AS THERE IS NO RUNNING FROM CHUCK NORRIS...HE WILL FIND YOU......OUR BEST ADVICE IS TO STAY INSIDE....AND DRINK MOUNTAIN DEW......

Quoting TheoJesse:At HomeI bought a home and paid for it before I retired. My insurance company saw fit to cancel my wind and hail because I lived south of I-10 in Mobile County, Al.The cheapest wind and hail insc. I could find was $1500 a year. You ain't paying that on Social Security. I don't what I will do if I get hit hard.Jesse

That is terrible. :( It seems even more and more people will have to be asking that question too. Hope nothing like that comes your way Jesse.

Quoting HurrikanEB:Does anyone know what the arctic oscillation/el nino situation was during the winter of 2007? Or where i might be able to find out.. was searching on google and didnt seem to find anything.

Winter 2006-2007 had even less snow to date here in new york than this winter has. Wondering if there was a correlation.